A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
TRIUM Global Executive MBA participants are among the most qualified and insightful in the international business world today. They are experienced executives and successful entrepreneurs who have excelled in their careers but thirst for more. They come from all corners of the globe and every type of business endeavor. Their varied backgrounds, perspectives and areas of expertise make the TRIUM educational experience-both in and out of class-one of the richest and most rewarding of any executive MBA program. The exchange of knowledge and ideas that takes place among TRIUM students during the resident modules, through collaborative assignments between modules and culminating in the term project creates a powerful network of global relationships destined to last well beyond completion of the TRIUM program.
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PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTHKATHLEEN TRAYNOR DEROSE Kathleen found finance right out of college, thanks to a "serendipitous" entry job at Chase in 1983. In her eight years there, she showed a flair for investing, earned her CFA, and rose from analyst to portfolio manager - and married and had a daughter. Her next employer was Scudder Stevens & Clark, where she specialized in turnarounds, building and redesigning investment processes for both institutional and retail portfolios. Scudder merged with Zurich Insurance, which was then acquired by Deutsche Bank. Kathleen, as a Managing Director, ran Deutsche Asset Management's largest domestic equity product, with $12 billion in assets and assisted in integrating the merged firms. Next stop was Bessemer Trust, where she managed the firm's biggest portfolio and whipped the research and technology processes into shape. She's characteristically modest about her accomplishments. "In a way, finance is not unlike history," she says. "There's no one right answer. The same situation that seems like a tremendous risk to one person could be an incredible opportunity to another." In 2006, Kathleen sought a new opportunity, co-founding a hedge fund with investment guru Robert Hagin. Her fund performed relatively well, she says, but raising capital during the recession ultimately proved too great a challenge, and by 2010 the fund had disbanded. Still, she says, "I learned more in three years of an entrepreneurial venture than in the decade prior." She joined an angel investor group in New York and began writing a book with Hagin on investment strategies, which will be published by Wiley. A co-founder of Women on Wall Street (WOW), a forum for senior women in finance, Kathleen also donated funds to create a research fund for women students in Princeton's Bendheim finance program. Enter TRIUM. Says Kathleen: "Business school was a long-time dream, and I found I finally had the time and resources. In my personal life, my daughter was graduating from college. I wanted a program with global experience so that my next job could be in a more global managerial role. There's no other program that offers the kind of global perspective that TRIUM does -- that's what's so unique about it." She points out that not only is TRIUM a triumvirate of three outstanding schools, but "it combines academic challenges with an international aspect and exceptional classmates, with an emphasis on personal and professional growth and global leadership skills. In our class of 65, there are only six Americans, and everybody's resume is amazing," she says. "The experience has been everything it promises and then some."" In the midst of working on the program's term project, she was bowled over by the possibilities. "We are truly living in a globally integrated world, and the US is now sharing economic and political power. In my group we have people from around the world and of all religious stripes: Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and atheist. In our first group project we wrote a paper about radical Islam and whether it is a threat to western liberal democracy. For Kathleen, one of the most rewarding aspects of TRIUM has been the focus on global entrepreneurship. TRIUM executives identify a strategic global issue, form a team, and develop a complete business plan. "Working with my group on the term project has been incredibly inspiring. We began with an idea, applied everything we had learned, and created a business. " A year into the TRIUM program, Kathleen moved to Zurich to start her current job. Credit Suisse has a $400 billion asset management business, all over the world, offering alternatives, asset allocation, and traditional and emerging markets products to institutional, high-net-worth, and retail clients. The post is the capstone of her career - so far. "I credit the TRIUM program with positioning me for this role and helping me believe I could do it," she says. " >>close |
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GLOBAL TEAMWORKWILFRIED GUERRAND TRIUM has been a significant personal investment for Wilfried. “The work is challenging and it forces me to use a different mindset than in the office, yet the program’s global features and the diversity of my classmates have made the experience very rewarding,” explains Wilfried. His classmates represent more than 35 different nationalities and various industries (Wilfried is the only one in retail), yet they all share a willingness to learn and have ambitious career goals. “Everyone treats each other very well,” says Wilfried. “As you move through the program’s modules, your classmates become friends, and then like a family. Together, we’re building a small global community between NYU, HEC and London.” Wilfried did not join TRIUM to change his career, but to broaden his mind with culture, academics and an understanding of other industries. While he studied business before he began his career in his early 20s, he noted TRIUM builds on his previous education, making everything relevant. The most valuable lesson Wilfried has learned from TRIUM is how to interact professionally through teamwork and communication. “A key to successful business is being able to work efficiently and completely, together with your team.” >>close |
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FEEDING THE INTELLECTJUAN CARLOS GARCÍA CANIZARES "I spent most of my 20s and 30s building my career and my professional experience, but the tradeoff was not being able to feed my intellect as much as I would have wanted to. I've always believed in the importance of being at the forward edge of business knowledge—that's what drew me to the TRIUM Program at this stage in my career. It's an extraordinary way to update your skill set and access the latest information and research from top faculty at three of the world's leading business learning centers." >>close |
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THE BIG PICTURE VIEWSTEVE REID "Mining is certainly an international business, which often requires people to travel," Steve says. "In my case, I've now worked longer outside of Australia than I have in it. As a result, my view of the world is much broader than it would have been otherwise. I've seen many different cultures and understand the ambiguities and challenges of dealing with other societies." Steve's global mindset played a major role in his selection of an MBA program. "I don't think I could ever have done an ordinary backyard type of EMBA program," he says. "TRIUM's international perspective was the key for me." Steve had considered completing an MBA much earlier in his career, but the responsibilities of a fast-moving, mobile career and a young family made him put that plan on hold. "Even though the mining business is not known for being at the leading edge of management theory or practice," continues Steve, "I always maintained a keen interest in the business side of things and tried to steer my experience into areas that gave me exposure to knowledge I would have gotten through an MBA." A few years ago, and with the encouragement of his employer at the time, Steve began looking at MBA programs again. "The search didn't last long," he says. "All the dynamics of the TRIUM Program worked for me: its global reach, modular structure, and the opportunity to travel to different international locations, study with top-flight faculties, and look at businesses in their socio-economic context. All of this struck me as unique and extremely valuable." For Steve, the benefits of the TRIUM curriculum have been tangible, practical and immediately applicable on the job. "You're not just learning theory," he explains. "You are absorbing new ideas and information that you can take away and instantly apply to your business. You also get to use your own business as subject matter in some cases. In one case, one of the readings I had to do for my TRIUM class was so relevant to things that were going on in my business that I shared it with my general managers by making it required reading for one of our management meetings. I've also found that during each module, I have come home with a list of ‘good ideas' for my business that I've compiled during the lectures." A key part of the TRIUM experience is the term project, and in Steve's case, it explored a subject the mining industry has been attuned to for many years: sustainable development and the environment. He and his team developed a business model around originating carbon credits from greenhouse gas emissions. "The project gave me and my fellow team members the big picture view that I like to have on things, especially for a topic as complex as this," says Steve. "We first had to understand how the Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gas-emission controls, and how the trading of carbon credits are going to influence business in the future, before we could even start building our project. Our focus is the extraction of the greenhouse gas methane from landfills in Brazil. Destroying methane produces revenue in two ways: it creates carbon credits that can be sold to emitting companies in say, Europe, where they are required because of their Kyoto commitments, and the extracted methane can also be used to generate power. It's a win-win scenario for the company driving the process, both of the countries involved in the credit trade, and the global environment as a whole." On the eve of his final TRIUM module, Steve counted that "big-picture view" as one of the great benefits of the program. "Another," he says, "is that TRIUM gives you the time, the tools and the rationale to think about the things that are really important for your business. If you're not careful, you can spend your professional life dealing with ‘urgent' things that are clamoring for your immediate attention. TRIUM gives you both the incentive and the time away from the job to think about your business in the context of what really matters most." >>close |
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BROADENING HORIZONSPASCAL BOUCHIAT For Pascal, his TRIUM term project was both challenging and richly rewarding. Pascal and his highly diverse teammates—four nationalities and even more professions were represented among the six team members—served as consultants to Valois, a leading French producer of packaging devices and dispensing systems for the home and personal care, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. "There was nothing theoretical about our project," observes Pascal. "At every step of the way, we were responding to the company's real needs and concrete strategy questions. Our presentations to Valois senior executives were very well received." Looking back at his TRIUM experiences, Pascal, now CFO of Rhodia, says, "The program is very demanding. A lot is expected of participants. But the payback for that commitment is extraordinary. It's so much more than just a line on a CV. I do believe that TRIUM was a key step—an enabling factor, if you will—in my becoming CFO." >>close |
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN CHINA'S FUTURECALVIN CHIN "Chin, 37, founded his own startup in 2007, after completing the last TRIUM module. His company, Qifang, is a for-profit, microfinance Web service that uses social networking to help Chinese students find a way to pay for their education by connecting them with individuals, companies, and organizations willing to loan them tuition money. In Chinese, Qifang refers to flowers’ bursting into bloom seemingly simultaneously, an apt metaphor. Qifang was born when Chin sought a way to combine the skills he had acquired through TRIUM with his desire to make a difference in China’s future. “I was talking with two friends about common ideas and goals,” he said. “We were inspired by microfinance in South Asia, online financial services in the US and Europe, and our own passions for equitable development and education in China.” The percentage of students receiving state education loans in China is insufficient, Chin pointed out. Critical connections The TRIUM program, which Chin first encountered at an MBA fair, seemed tailor-made to help him realize his dream. He selected it from among other programs for three main reasons: the schedule and format of the courses, which he found “unique” and could fit his work schedule; the content on political economy and its relevance to global business leaders; and the international cohort and content. “I especially loved adding Europe and South America to my network after having studied and worked in the US, and now of course working in Asia,” he said. With Chin already on the hunt during his TRIUM experience for how he could start a company and make a difference at the same time, TRIUM functioned as an entrepreneurial incubator. Explained Chin: “Many of us were thinking about new ideas, and many of us were exploring new chapters in our professional lives and thinking about transitions. Working on the team project was a catalyst as well. The opportunity at TRIUM to hang out with really smart people from different backgrounds and industries is amazing for creativity.” Relevant lessons Chin hopes Qifang’s success will help make innovation and startup companies more acceptable in China. In fact, he is now exploring ways to use Qifang’s technology for other types of funding and donation, and also as a platform for the exchange of innovation and intellectual property. >>close |
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TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCERICCI S. WHITLOW "Because my job is global in nature, I was intrigued by the international makeup of the TRIUM program and its participants," she explains. For Ricci, the rewards of the program go beyond the purely academic: "TRIUM is also very much about the people you meet in the program and the process of sharing and learning from each other's experiences. TRIUM participants come from all over the world, and their level of experience is tremendously high. Interacting with them so closely takes you to the next level in understanding other people's cultures. It also takes your thinking to a different place from where it had been. In this environment, you get to think about issues from different perspectives and from completely different mindsets. I can see already how TRIUM is going to be a transformative experience for me, personally, professionally…all the way around." >>read more>>close |
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EXPLOSION OF IDEASJAVIER SUÁREZ "In my position, I have a lot of contact with clients in different locations and of different nationalities," Javier says. "One of the most valuable things I took away from the TRIUM Program was a better understanding of my clients and how to interact with them." Much of that "better understanding" came out of Javier's term project, which he feels was the most challenging part of the program, but also one of the most rewarding. "Our project focused on a very real case—there was nothing theoretical about it. Basically, we were enlisted by the company of one of our teammates as external consultants to explore opportunities for diversification. We studied the company in depth and presented our ideas at the final TRIUM module at NYU and subsequently to the company's top executives. The beauty of the project was the opportunity to offer concrete, implementable recommendations directly to top management and have them respond so positively." For Javier, the TRIUM Program has generated what he calls "an explosion of ideas," many of them triggered just by casual conversation with his fellow TRIUM members. "You're sitting at the dinner table with colleagues and you hear so many different stories of opportunities and experiences all over the world," he says. "You suddenly understand how many things you can do in life that are different from what you've been doing." Two exciting new projects have stemmed directly from Javier's TRIUM experiences and training. He is writing a book on equity valuation for the Spanish university at which he has lectured for many years, and is in the early stages of starting up a consultancy firm with a TRIUM colleague. "It's amazing to have access to such a vast and diverse set of CVs as you do as a TRIUM alumnus," Javier continues. "I know that for any idea I may want to develop, I have a phone number to call and a TRIUM colleague to consult. And on whichever continent I may want to implement an idea, I'll have a friendly contact there who can give me an introduction to the market or to a specific organization or situation. There are so many opportunities available thanks to this network of TRIUM colleagues and now friends." Looking back, Javier considers it an honor to have been associated with his TRIUM classmates and professors. "The level of quality is outstanding across the board," he says. "The three universities involved, the faculty, the curriculum, and above all the participants themselves—it's like a potent cocktail that when put together creates in you that explosion of ideas." >>close |
